Wrapping it up!…Four days until we leave New Zealand…Fun videos…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Video #1, of the alpacas coming down our driveway
on Friday morning. 
I started today’s post at 7:30 am.  Up at 5 am, my new automatic wake up time, I bolted our of bed, folding and packing more items that have since dried indoors after the past few rainy days.

Today, when it started as a sunny day I started the washer as soon as I made it downstairs. With no clothes dryer, we have to take advantage of sunny days if we prefer to leave here with entirely clean clothes. 

 

Video #2 as the alpacas entered the paddock in our yard.
This past week I’ve been washing and wearing the same two outfits over and over, knowing I’m giving the shirt the heave-ho before leaving. Having purchased some new items here in NZ, there’s no room for any questionable or worn items I seldom wear. Tom is doing the same. 

Generally, our individual clothing suitcases (one each) weigh about the same. This time, we plan to be completely packed, able to weigh our bags by Wednesday, and pay for any excess online. 

On Friday morning, Trish and Neil gathered the alpacas in the smaller mating paddock. Some needed injections to keep them healthy and Neil, a physician, can easily handle this process without calling the vet.

We’re flying on Emirates Airline, our favorite airline to date. Their baggage allowance for one “free” bag each is 30 kg., 66 pounds. This helps us tremendously on the flight from Auckland to Sydney this coming Friday. Emirates provides a 10% discount if excess baggage is paid in advance online. Many other airlines don’t offer ‘free” checked bags.

They all look on as others got their injections.

When the upcoming cruise ends on April 30th, we’ll fly from Singapore to Bali on Jetstar Asia. They too have a “free ” allowance for one 20 kg, 44 pounds, checked bag. In this case, we’ll have considerable excess baggage fees and reorganizing our stuff the night before the cruise ends.

In both cases, we’ll have to pay extra for the third bag (between us) that contains shoes, toiletries, powers cords, business cards, and medical supplies. 

Sure, it would be great not to have a third bag, but as often as I go through that bag there is nothing we can eliminate.  After all, our bags contain every physical possession, we own and duh, we don’t have anywhere we call “home” to regroup and repack, unlike most other travelers.

Finally, they were done and releases the alpacas into the paddock.

We always get a kick out of seeing cruise passengers with more luggage than us. That used to be us in our old lives on the few occasions we traveled over the years – way too many heavy bags. As we’ve learned in our travels, at times, it’s a painful and expensive lesson.

Through the glass at the kitchen window, sleeping while standing.

Now, we accept the reality that what we have is what we have. Eliminating many items isn’t practical when many countries don’t have what we’d need to purchase to replace certain items during a short-term stay. 

Trish and Neil left for their three-week holiday in South Africa on a 17-hour flight on Friday. Early that morning they moved 47 of over 100 alpacas to our yard now that the grass has regrown. Also, they wanted us to have one more amazing week to interact with them.

Being an alpaca mom is an exhausting job and many naps on occasion during the day. The adult alpacas are tagged through their ears. The cria (newest babies) wear collars with nag tags until they later receive their permanent tags. It’s imperative to tag them for health and mating reasons.

A local woman they employ as a farm helper stops by a few times a day to add the extra nutrients the alpacas need, lined up in colorful bowls along the inside of the fence of the paddock. It’s hysterical to watch their enthusiasm when they see her coming with the bowls as they hover in one massive group close to the fence.

Today, our two videos include one; when Trish and Neil walked them up to our driveway, and two; as they entered the paddock outside our back door. Have a look! 

They’re funny and so adorable.

Most afternoons many will rest at the side of our house.  On sunny days most will sit in this location with shade, providing a break from the heat of the sun.

Since they arrived in the yard, we’ve spent hours outdoors watching their playful antics, treasuring every moment knowing soon we’ll say goodbye. Last night only minutes before dark, the antics of the young ones running and leaping through the air, left us laughing again and again.

Now, it’s time to stop “playing” and get “down to business” with laundry, packing, scanning receipts, and reorganizing the house to put everything back in its place.  We always attempt to leave the property as tidy as it was when we arrived.

May your day be productive as well!

Photo from one year ago today, April 11, 2015:
Although Hawaii may not be the perfect climate for cactus to proliferate, many varieties of cactus seem to thrive as this has that I spotted on the tour of the Princeville Botanical Garden. For more photos, please click here.

Final photos of Taranaki Pioneer Village including a peek inside an historical hospital…A new way of life upcoming soon…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
This could come in handy on “overly grumpy” days!

We’re still awaiting final documents for upcoming bookings which we’ll share as soon as we have them in hand which should be later today.

Here’s the library and general store at Taranaki Pioneer Village.

Yesterday, we breezed through town making the multiple stops we’d planned. At the pharmacy, several staff members who’d assisted me over these past three months gathered around to wish me goodbye. That’s amazing! 

Each room in the settlement houses contained authentic antiques with some funny plaster characters.

Tom usually waits in the car while I shop except at the meat market and at the farmer’s market, which we’ll visit for a final time this Sunday to return eight empty egg cartons and to purchase our last batch of eggs, enough at that point to last only four more days.

A hat and garments shop.

As of today, we’re leaving in eight days. It’s at this point we begin calculating how we’ll use the remaining food in the freezer, fridge, and cupboards. We’re in great shape for using up most of our supplies as we plan the menu for the upcoming week.

It was enjoyable to see the clothing from the era in various shops.

Today, we’re laundering the remaining few loads of cruise clothing, especially when it’s a sunny breezy day when they’ll dry quickly. The house cleaners will arrive soon. We’ve decided to have them clean one more time, next Thursday, leaving us to focus on packing instead of cleaning the house before we go. At a weekly price of NZ $60, US $41, it’s worth it. 

These bottles in the Chemist shop may have contained a variety of ingredients for making potions.

Today, it dawned on us that we won’t be cooking for ourselves until moving into the house in Phuket, Thailand on July 22, 2016, over three months away. I enjoy preparing our meals but in Bali with a household cook on staff, I’ll only assist in the menu and choosing appropriate ingredients.

Authentic grocer.

The owners of the Bali house explained we could have the cook do all the prep and cleanup while we season the meal putting it all together at the end for cooking. As for the shopping, at this point, we’re assuming we’ll do the shopping to ensure we’ll have the correct ingredients. We’ll know more once we arrive after the cruise.

An old telephone switchboard.

We have no doubt that the local grocery stores will be small with limited availability of products, not unlike in Kenya and Fiji, both of which had sparse options at the local markets.

The bedpan department in the old hospital on the grounds of the Taranaki Pioneer Village.

For our way of eating, if we can purchase free-range chicken and eggs, grass-fed meat, wild-caught fish (caught away from the shore), dairy, and vegetables, we’ll have everything we need. 

The operating theatre.  Scary.

There are no villages in which we’ve lived to date that don’t sell meat/protein sources, veggies, and full-fat dairy which are universal food choices in most parts of the world. 

The maternity theatre. 

However limited the food supply we can always figure it out. In reality, our way of eating is easier than trying to find specific packaged and processed food items many people use in their daily lives. 

The blacksmith shop.
The interior of the blacksmith shop.

In my old life before 2011 when I adopted this diet, I’d have been frustrated if unable to purchase “whole grain” bagels, low sugar jelly, and unsweetened low-fat yogurt. Now, with those foods on my prohibited list, shopping is much easier. Plus, eating only one meal a day makes meal options relatively simple.

The check-out desk at the library.

Today, we’re wrapping up the photos from our recent tour of the Taranaki Pioneer Village and hopefully, tomorrow, we’ll be back with exciting news we’re looking forward to posting.

Printing equipment from a long-ago era.

May your day bring good news, good health, and contentment.
                    
                                                Photo from one year ago today, April 7, 2015:

This was the local health food store where we often shopped for specialty items while in Kauai. Most likely, such a store won’t be available in Bali. We’ll manage without it. For more details, please click here.

Part 2…Taranaki Pioneer Village…New video…Farm life coming to a close…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
 Check out our video from the Taranaki Pioneer Village!

It’s funny how when we love where we’re living, the final weeks seem to pass quickly. Isn’t that how life is anyway? As they say, “time flies when you’re having fun!”

The 10-acre grounds in the Taranaki Pioneer Village has much to offer.

It’s been a great three months here in New Plymouth in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand, as our regular readers have read over and over again. We couldn’t rave about this farm and location enough. 

For typical travelers on a one or two-week holiday/vacation, this lifestyle may be a little too slow and laid back.  Although, this area, this island, this country has plenty to do for the most enthusiastic traveler if they have a rental car, time, and interest in getting on the road. 

Footbridge over the lake with many ducks below.

Many have commented how we’re missing out on not living on the South Island but for us, the cost for a long-term rental was prohibitive. Plus, we found this area so beautiful and rewarding, we could hardly have expected or wanted more. 

As we began the walk on the paths chickens and roosters started following us, certainly used to being fed by tourists.

It isn’t always about the “very best” location.  Affordability and our interests prevail in most of our decisions. On occasion, we may falter in these priorities and when we do, we accept the inevitable…that perhaps we didn’t make the best decision at the time we booked the vacation home, cruise, or location in general.

Instead of berating ourselves for making occasional decisions for less than ideal situations, we prefer to adapt to the environment as well as we can and strive to embrace the aspects we may find appealing and engaging.  Attitude is everything in this lifestyle and in any lifestyle for that matter. 

Tom also got a kick out of how many chickens and roosters began to follow us.

We always remind ourselves that if we have our health and our loved ones are healthy and doing well, there’s little room for complaint. Yes, in some locations there may have been bugs in the bed (not here), flies buzzing around our heads, “mozzies” dining on our blood, unbearable heat without AC, and limited amenities and food options.

The chickens and roosters joined us when we stopped to visit the sheep who were also baahing and begging for food. I’d seen pellets for sale in the visitors center but didn’t think of buying any. At that point, we were too far away to go back to buy a bag.

From early on in our travels, we discovered that complaining wasn’t productive. Solving problems to the best of our abilities is productive and even then, when we get a “no, it can’t be done” we press and then press again, always attempting to keep kindness and diplomacy in mind.

The two sheep didn’t take their eyes off of us as they made lots of noise.

What may seem difficult for us may be a “normal” way of life for others. It’s through living with some of those same challenges that we learn and grow. Ultimately, isn’t that what we wanted to accomplish in our travels…experience life in a manner we never knew in our old lives?

We felt like the Pied Piper as they continued with us on the tour.

In this beautiful region, in this ideal home, living on these breathtaking 35 acres with nature surrounding us, we’ve experienced no hardships; not the flies that entered the house when we had no choice but to leave the screen-less doors open on warm days; not the sand fleas that required my constant use of toxic repellent (when “natural” didn’t work); not the bugs in the bedroom at night when the metal roof made the upper-level bedroom so hot we had to open the windows. 

We stopped to see these horses but they had no interest in us.

None of this mattered to us. We adapted. We purchased a fly swatter and used it to kill dozens of flies before sitting down to a meal, closing all the doors and windows so we could dine in peace without flies landing on our food. 

A chicken with fluffy feet.

As I scurried about the well-equipped kitchen each day with the final touches for the upcoming meal, Tom killed flies. He quickly learned to “swipe” as opposed to “splat” to ensure no-fly guts remained on the windows, walls, furniture, and cabinets. 

We stopped to sit on a park bench to enjoy the scenery while the chickens waited for us to continue on.

The rest?  It’s been so easy, so pleasant and so rewarding. And now, with packing on the horizon we’ve accepted one more reality…we are leaving in 11 days, heading to Auckland (a five-hour drive) for a three-plus-hour flight to Sydney where we’ll spend one night, boarding a cruise the next day.

This rooster followed us during our entire walk through the grounds, up until we entered the visitors center at the end of our tour.

It’s all good. We’re grateful for the experience and we’ll be ready to move along when the time comes.

May you find experiences that find you grateful, whether it’s in living a simple daily life, not unlike ours, or a day filled with excitement and adventure. Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, April 4, 2015:

In Kauai, one year ago, we speculated based on appearance, that there’s some sort of permanent pouch beneath the shedding skin of this Green Anole. For more Kauai photos, please click here.

Two days and counting…Packing has begun…Favorite Viti Levu scenes…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
The pool at our vacation home was cleaned three times a week, making it appealing to use. We took this photo on one of the very few sunny days but we also used it for cooling off on many hot, humid, and cloudy days.

Here we are, repacking once again. When I got up this morning the temptation was to start packing before getting ready for the day. Instead, I forced myself to do my usual routine knowing once dressed I’d have coffee, prepare and upload today’s post and then motivated to pack as much as possible to get it out of the way.

Having to leave out clothing for Monday’s morning flight and dining out in Sydney on Monday evening and, boarding the ship the following day can be tricky. With two upcoming weeks on the cruise ship, the less clothing we get dirty, the better. 

If we can wear the same clothes from 7:00 am Monday, showering and changing underwear only, until late Tuesday afternoon, we’ll be able to change into fresh clothes when our luggage is delivered to our cabin before dinner.

Lily in the pond at Arts Village, which we visited often for its nice restaurants and grocery shopping which proved to be adequate for our needs.

This way, we leave only a few dirty items in the ship’s laundry bag to be washed after five or six days into the cruise. We simply can’t last a full two weeks without having the ship’s laundry service wash our clothing. 

On most two week cruises, we have our laundry done twice after they offer the usual promotion for USD $30, FJD $64 for one stuffed bag. The clean, neatly folded (not ironed) clothing is delivered the following day.

As much as we’ve tried hand washing some items on the ship, it just doesn’t work well.  Hanging clothes on the balconies is not permitted. Hanging wet clothes in the shower is pointless when it takes forever to dry in the tiny humid space.

A decorative playhouse in the pool of a resort is under renovation.

Tonight, we’ll finish our last meal at home, dining out tomorrow, our last evening. We’ve consumed almost all the food we had on hand except for 14 eggs, butter, and spices all of which we’ll leave behind. This time we’re not bringing any foodstuffs with us. We’ll start anew when we arrive in New Zealand on January 19th.

With all of our cruise clothing (anything that’s not a tee shirt or shorts) clean and hanging, today I’ll wrap each item individually in large plastic bags neatly folding the bags.

Using a plastic bag wrap is a surefire way of keeping clothes wrinkle-free. This is only important to us on cruises when we make every effort to look more “put together” for dinner. Otherwise, leaving clothes to hang in a humid climate while living in vacation homes eventually removes most wrinkles.

This tropical flower was new to us.

Today, Tom can’t seem to wipe the smile off his face.  I know he’s especially excited about the cruise and its two weeks of socialization. Anyone that knows Tom is aware of his friendly and sociable demeanor coupled with lots of laughter and storytelling.  Here comes the “shed!”

I’m not at all offended that he’s chomping at the bit to interact with “the boys”  and other couples. He’s certainly had his fill of me! If you asked him, he’d genuinely say he’s enjoyed every single day we spent alone together and I wholeheartedly agree. Although, the thought of sitting quietly chatting with other women is equally appealing to me. Girl time!

I’ve always been able to easily make friends with women young and old. In Minnesota, we both had many friends and couples with whom we socialized on a regular basis, often entertaining at our home or theirs. We’d be foolish to say we don’t miss that.

A 4 foot, 1.22 meters,  tall lawn decoration handmade with small vines
 befitting the Fijian style.

Cruising is an easy way to connect with other couples. We often plan a few meals and outings, often staying in touch long after the cruise has ended. Based on passengers Tom’s communicated with in CruiseCritic, we already have dinner plans organized and on our calendar. 

With socialization almost all day we get a major dose of fun often staying with us until the next cruise. With several more cruises planned over the next 17 months, we have no doubt we’ll find each fulfilling and rewarding.

The sun keeps peeking in and out.  Hopefully, its sunny after I finish packing to allow for a quick swim in the pool and a 40 minute dose of Vitamin D with only four sunny days in this past almost 28 days, one last plunge would be great.

I just came back inside from hanging a few remaining items on the clothesline, receiving no less than 10 mosquito bites. Unfortunately, I hadn’t put on enough DEET and now will pay the price with five or six days of constant itching. With all the rain this month, the mozzies are on a rampage. I should have known better!
 
Have a wonderful New Year’s Day to those still celebrating on the other side of the International Dateline!  See you tomorrow.

Photo from one year ago today, January 2, 2015:
One last photo of the second house we rented next door to the first, on the Big Island.  We particularly enjoyed the more modern, more well-maintained second house with a small pool. For more details, please click here.

Stepping on a commercial scale in public?…What??…Tricky luggage situation…Late post due to our first power outage in Fiji…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 2 Comments
Fiji comprised approximately 330 islands, of which one third are inhabited. The two major islands are Viti Levu, the most commonly visited, and Vanua Levu where we are staying for the next three months.

On our first morning in Savusavu, the power went out from 8:00 am until 1:00 pm. As a result, we were unable to complete today’s post until now. From what we’ve heard, power outages on this remote island aren’t uncommon. If, or when, in the future, there isn’t a new post, most likely it will be due to a power outage. Once the power returns, we’ll immediately get back to preparing and uploading the day’s post. Now on to the story we started this morning at 7:00 am.

Fiji Airways’ baggage policy, vague online, proved to be more complicated than we’d expected. For the first time in our travels, we weren’t allowed to carry on our duffel bag or the small rolling cart. They had to be checked to add grossly to the weight.

As a result, we had to pay USD $298, AUD $430 in excess baggage fees. No doubt we’d have had to pay for the bags being overweight anyway with or without checking these two extra items. Tom was frustrated. I’d expected this and tossed out a credit card to pay.

With another flight once we arrived at the Nadi Airport, on Fiji’s largest island, we had to collect our bags, go through customs and immigration, and check-in the bags once again, (we expected this) although the payment we’d already made saw us all the way through to Savusavu, our final destination. 

As the small plane approached the island of Vanua Levu, heading toward the Savusavu Airport. (Photos shown today were taken through the window of the aircraft).

When we were done at customs and immigration, we used two free trolleys loaded up with all of our bags and made the required 10-minute walk to the domestic terminal from the international terminal. 

When we depart Savusavu in three months to fly back to the mainland for one additional month, we’ll have to pay all over again. Am I redundant in saying, “It’s the nature of the beast?” Probably. But, we have to remind ourselves that it’s only these travel days we find challenging, the hauling of the heavy bags, from gate to gate, immigration desk to immigration desk.

Getting up at 3:45 am worked out well. I was asleep by 10:00 pm and Tom drifted off by 10:30 when I heard him rustling about to turn off the TV. Sleeping all the way through the night until we heard the alarm on my phone and moments later the wake-up call, I bolted out of bed raring to go.

In Fiji, there are many atolls, ring-shaped reefs, islands, or chains of islands formed or coral. Notice one of the wheels of the plane in this photo.

Within 20 minutes I was showered, dressed and ready to pack up the odds and ends we’d unpacked when we’d arrived the previous night. By 4:15 am, we called the front desk to deliver two trolleys to the room. Luckily, the hotel keeps airport trolleys on hand for this very purpose. Thus, we were able to leave the trolleys at the airport when done checking the bags. This avoided the necessity of a cab fare to go a mere six-minute walk.

Back to the arrival at Nadi Airport in Fiji, when we arrived at the domestic terminal, we had to once again check the prepaid bags. In doing so, all looked good at the start until the agent with Fiji Airways explained that my large yellow Costco bag had to be checked. 

Since I no longer own a handbag, when we travel I use that bag in part as a handbag. Now I had to let it be checked since they explained the plane was too small with no overhead compartments or room for storage. 

After days of rain, Savusavu was still experiencing a huge cloud cover. Today, for the first time in days, the sun has made an appearance. With sunset views from our veranda, we’re looking forward to some awesome sunsets although partially blocked by mountains.

Immediately, I scrambled through the bag removing the camera, our phones, my wallet, and a few personal effects, stuffing them into the blue pill bag that we were allowed to carry. At that point, the agent told us to individually step up onto the raised baggage scale along with our remaining one carry on bag each.

Oh, good grief. Were they going to announce our weight over the loudspeakers? Was there a digital readout everyone could see when we stepped up on the scale? No, it was a relatively painless process when no one could see our weight, not even us. 

When all was said and done, our carry-on consisted of one laptop bag and the pill bag containing a year’s supply of prescriptions, some vitamins, and two Epipens (we’re both allergic to bees).

How small was this aircraft that we had to trim down to this effect and be weighed in public? A short time later we met a couple from the US on their honeymoon and they explained that the agent changed their seat assignment due to their combined weight being too heavy to sit together. How embarrassing was that?  Fortunately, we were able to retain our two seats, side by side. 

We can understand the reasoning of weighing people along with all of their bags in one fell swoop but doing it with only one carry on, could be difficult to take. There’s been a lot of controversy on this topic.

An hour later, we walked outside to board the plane, having been told that some of the passenger’s bags wouldn’t make the flight due to the weight restrictions. Who that would be was unknown at this point. 

We had no idea if our bags would make it through on our flight until after we landed at the tiny airport Savusavu. All of our bags made it through but the newlyweds, heading out on a boat to a more remote location, had a few bags yet to arrive.

Scattered across roughly 1.3 million square kilometers of the South Pacific, the Fijian Archipelago encompasses one of the most extensive coral reef systems in the world, which many claim is more beautiful than the Great Barrier Reef. 

With the necessity of a trip to the grocery store (more on that later), once we arrived in Savusavu and, before we arrived at the new house and, with the property’s owner-driver picking us up, we wondered how and when we’d have time to return to the airport to pick up the bags. We both stayed calm.

In tomorrow’s post, we’ll share the exciting adventure on the little plane and some amazing photos. The plane was almost as small as the plane we took in Kenya landing on a dirt runway in the Masai Mara when we went on photo safari two years ago.

Need I say, we were excited and fearless? Goodness, where is the old Jessica, formerly terrified of insects, snakes, and confined spaces? In the past two weeks, I’ve been in a submarine and on a tiny plane. Has this crazy life been able to change me so much, that now, my heart pounds with excitement, not fear?

All I can say until tomorrow is that we made it! As I write this now, on the night of September 8th, the 7th in the northern hemisphere, we’re totally unpacked, our groceries are put away and we’re incredibly content in our new home; the bed’s a little hard but there are five windows in the house with screens. There’s no closet for hanging clothes, only shelves for stacking them. 

There isn’t a bowl large enough to toss a salad or a pot big enough to make any of our favorite entrees let alone the fact that there was no lettuce or cabbage available at the sparse grocery store, comparable to the sparse markets we experienced in Belize. We’ll find a farmer’s market. We’ll adapt. We always do.

Photo from one year ago today, September 8, 2014:

A year ago photo from September 8th…We arrived in Iceland to embark on a wild 4×4 ride through the countryside on a terribly rainy and cold day. For details, please click here.
The geothermal activity in Iceland is unbelievable. It’s a time bomb ready to explode so explained our driver on the 4×4 adventure. For more details, please click here.

Final new photos from Trinity Beach…Tomorrow, our favorite photos in Australia…Next day…final expenses and we’re off…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
This morning I shot these gorgeous yellow flowers.

As we wind down the remaining two days in Queensland, Australia, we’re planning the posts over the next several days. With many of our readers one day behind us, please keep that in mind when reviewing our upcoming posts, when we say it’s Monday, it will be Sunday in your part of the world.

We plan to post each of the next following days with photos. On Monday, with an afternoon departure to Sydney, we’ll have time to post our final favorite photos and total expenses for the three months we spent in Trinity Beach.

Trinity Beach, another sunny day at the sea.

On Tuesday, with a 6:30 am departure from Sydney to Fiji with a connecting flight between islands, it’s likely we may not be able to post based on information we read for wifi at the Nadi, Fiji airport. If it’s available, we will post photos.

In the worst case, we’ll be missing one post on Tuesday (perhaps on your Monday). Otherwise, we’ll be back on Wednesday with an update on our arrival and photos of our new home. 

The stairway leads to an overlook.

We can hardly wait to have these two travel days behind us. Neither of us enjoys flying, mostly due to the waiting and the baggage commotion. Then again, boarding a ship isn’t the most pleasant experience either, spending considerable time waiting on either end.

Cove at the beach where a little blue tent protects a beach-goer from the intense sun.

Travel days are stressful for Tom, even if everything goes well. At times, there’s an issue with our baggage or another matter that sends him into a tailspin although, there have been a few flights that have been seamless and he stayed calm. My rationale is simple, get us there safely and I’m content. The rest? Hopefully, it will be over in no time at all.

The sun rising over Yorkeys Knob, photo taken from our veranda, another excellent view we’ll remember in years to come.

These last few days always feel a bit unsettled. Mostly packed, we don’t have much we have to do. We’ve totally lost interest in sightseeing at this point and have begun to fill our heads with thoughts of our new location and getting the travel days behind us.

Yesterday, I prepared everything for our final meals for tonight and tomorrow night. I’d purchased and made exactly the correct amounts for Tom’s breakfasts and midday snacks. 

The kangaroos and wallabies that we’d previously seen at this nearby spot have moved on to greener pastures. We only spotted these two at a distance when we visited the area for the last time.  We visited this spot many times in the past three months.

I plan to have a late lunch before we depart on Monday since the airline food is never right for me even if I list my requirements on the airline’s website. As a result, I no longer bother to enter the information, giving Tom whatever they serve me.

Various types of fern trees are common in Australia.

In the past when I’ve requested a special meal, they always served me fruit and processed meats, of which, I eat neither. I don’t expect nor am I disappointed that the airlines aren’t able to accommodate my way of eating. It’s too peculiar for their constraints and I fully accept this.

Flowers blooming over the pool area.

At Woolie’s, I purchased a bag of raw almonds for snaking during dinner on the flight, if I’m hungry after the late lunch. With this way of eating I’m seldom hungry and at times, force myself to have a meal, especially if I’d eaten anything within the past eight hours. What’s the point of eating when one isn’t hungry? Our bodies have a magical way of letting us know when we need food or drink. 

Impatiens continue to flourish in the yard.

Today, a sunny day will be perfect for a short stint in the sun. Now that the packages are sent and packing is under control, there’s little else to do but lounge and enjoy the fresh outdoors as much as possible.

Our final photo overlooking the rainforest to Double Island.

We’ll be back tomorrow with our favorite photos we’ve taken in Australia. Thanks to all of our worldwide readers for staying with us during these quiet, less exciting times especially as we wind down the last few mundane days in a location. Soon, the excitement will be ramped up as life in a new country begins!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, September 5, 2014:

One year ago today, we visited the Blarney Castle in Cork, Ireland. Tom had visited Ireland twice in his life before we met but, he was excited to show me this historic site. For more details, please click here

Handling excess baggage fees…Unable to prepay…Packing remains time consuming and tricky…Four days until departure!

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
A sunny day makes all the difference in taking good photos.

With the complicated upcoming five flights necessary over the next many months and the slower Internet connection, a few months ago we decided to book all five flights with a local travel agency after we’d verified pricing online.

Travel agencies generally charge the same prices for their services that we’d receive on our own other than the voracious online searches, we may perform from time to time for the best possible fares. 

In the case of these upcoming flights, we could search day and night and the prices remained within a few dollars either way. Rather than using $100 in data searching online, a trip to the travel agency made sense, especially when it’s located in the same mall where we’ve shopped each week.

Visitors spending time at the beach in the shade.  We did the same sitting on beach towels we placed on the grass.

When we booked the five flights, we didn’t prepay baggage fees at the time. Knowing we had to further lighten our load to stay within the 23 kilo, 50 pounds, maximum weight for checked baggage, we had some work to do. 

We’d purchased a few items of clothing while here, received in a shipment from the US and had to reduce the weight to compensate for the new items, easily done with many items becoming old and worn from frequent wearing and washing.

With one checked bag allowed per person at or under this weight, our only excess baggage is our third bag which also now weighs within the 23 kilo range. 

People, young and old, walk along the esplanade.

For those who may have missed why we need five flights, here they are:

1.  Cairns to Sydney, Australia:  stay overnight in hotel
2.  Sydney to Nadi, Fiji:  two hour layover
3.  Nadi, Fiji to Savusavu, Fiji  (first smaller island we’ll live on for almost three months):  landlord picking us up at the airport, to take us to our new home
4.  Savusavu, Fiji to Suva, Fiji (main island we’ll live on for one month): on our own, rental car from airport to house. 
5.  Suva back to Sydney, Australia: to stay overnight for one night, board a cruise on January 5, 2016 which will disembark 14 days later in Auckland, New Zealand, where we’ll rent a car to drive to our new home near New Plymouth, New Zealand for the next 89 days.

With the confusion of booking all of these flights individually online it certainly made sense to see a travel agent to book all of these flights on one ticket, all the way through to Sydney in January.

Unfortunately, it appears prepaying for our extra bag for all five flights is trickier than one would think. We’d planned to return to the agency a few days before departure and have the agent set up the prepayment of the extra bag.

There are numerous resorts, hotels and vacation rentals overlooking the sea in Trinity Beach.

With all of our bags filled, we weighed them on the our portable travel scale, happily discovering they all were within the weight restrictions for individual bags. 

The only issue is the third checked bag, one we cannot live without no matter how we’ve tried to trim its contents: all of our shoes (six pairs each), a few small boxes of our business cards, a portable scanner, bottles of vitamins a few sandwich sized ziplock bags of cosmetics, teeth care supplies (fluoride free toothpaste), emergency medical/first aid supplies, insect repellent, power adapters and cords including HDMI and a small stash of other toiletries, such as organic antiperspirant and shaving supplies. All of these items are included in the lowest amounts possible. 

Walking along the beach is enjoyed by visitors to the many beaches.  Of course, keeping an eye out for crocs, sharks and stingers is vital at most beaches in Australia.

Having checked for stores available in each location, we determine the necessity of bringing more or less toiletries. Fiji is not going to carry fluoride free toothpaste or organic antiperspirant. We’re bringing enough to last 89 days. We’re always monitoring the amounts of products we use in order to avoid packing any more than the minimum.

In that bag, I only have one small plastic jar of face cream with no other lotions, potions, perfumes or sunscreens. We use coconut oil as a lotion if needed, purchased new in each location and left behind when we move on. We purchase hair products as needed at each new location.

The top level of this condo complex has great ocean views.

On Tuesday, when we stopped in at the travel agency to hopefully pay for the extra bag, the rep explained that once she entered our confirmation numbers, a message appeared stating the excess bags can only be paid at the airport at the time of checking in.

This is odd to us. But, we too saw this notation online. Since we preferred to pay the excess all the way through, it appears the flight with Fiji Airways are tripping up the process. Smaller planes may dictate actual allowable weight once other passengers check in.  his is the only reason we can determine as to why we can’t do this in advance. The excess bag may have to be shipped on a different flight.

The shaded walkway, the esplanade, is an ideal path for walking.

As a result, we have no choice but to wait until we’re at the airport in Cairns on Monday, arriving in plenty of time to handle this and pay for the excess. Of course, we’d have preferred to have it handled up front but undert these circumstances, have no other option.

We’re expecting to pay no less than AUD $800, USD $562. Anything less will be a pleasant surprise. 

Tomorrow, we’ll head to the post office to ship the box of food supplies in Vanua Levu, most of which is only purchased in the health food sections of a large grocery store or in a health food shop. None of these types of stores exist  in Vanua Levu. 

With the intense sun in Australia, many former sunbathers spend only short stints in the sun, as we do on occasion.  On the date we took these photos, we spent all of the time in the shade except during the walk in the sand along the beach.

None of this planning is easy. Those who may believe that living a life of traveling the world is free of responsibilities with little planning are kidding themselves, especially if they have any types of special needs that requires certain products, foods and equipment.

As time marches on, we’ve accepted the reality of shipping certain products to ourselves in advance and paying for excess baggage fees. If we were 25 years old without any medical or health needs driving us to purchase and use specific products and, we were able to carry an even a smaller amount of clothing in  backpack, it could be an entirely different scenario.

A palm tree casting a shadow in the sand, a perfect spot for a beach chair.  We wished we had the two chairs we’d purchased at Costco in Kauai which we gave to Elaine and Richard before departing.

But, we’re not 25 years old. We’re grateful that we’ve figured out a way that makes this life work for us ultimately reducing stress of feverishly scrambling to find the items we need once we arrive in a new location.  

Once we unpack our bags and the shipped box we can sit back and relax as we settle into a new life in a new country knowing we have the supplies we’ll need for the best possible experience.

We’ll be back soon as we fast approach our departure from Trinity Beach, Australia to head to a new and different country where we’ll live for the next four months.

                                           Photo from one year ago today, September 3, 2014:
No photo was posted one year ago today when we had a very early morning departure from the ship to visit Stonehenge, although we posted a short blurb. Please click here for details.

One week from today, we’re off to Sydney, then Fiji…Final preparations…A mixed bag of emotions and activities…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Walkway along the pond in Trinity Beach area. There doesn’t appear to be as many vacation homes in this particular area as we’ve seen in other beach areas.

The final week before departing for a new location is a mixed bag of emotions and activities. Excitement over the upcoming new environment, a bit of apprehension over the quality of our seen-online-only-accommodations, and the hope and expectation that travel day will be seamless.

In the upcoming travel to the second largest island in the Fiji archipelago, we decided to break up the travel into two days when we were unable to arrange flights at reasonable hours. 

As it is, we’ll have to be up at 4 am next Tuesday morning, September 8th, to board the 6:30 am flight from Sydney to Savusavu, Vanua Levu. The alternative would have been to spend the night at the airport, simply not our style in our efforts to avoid stress and exhaustion when possible.

A manmade pond at a condo complex in Trinity Beach.

Today, we’re off to the Trinity Beach post office to purchase a large box in order to pack necessary food supplies to ship to Fiji where they do not carry these particular items. Once we bring the box back home to be packed and weighed, we’ll bring it back to the same post office for shipping.

We’re sending another box to ourselves to remain at our mailing service in Las Vegas, Nevada filled with tax receipts we must save, paper copies of our medical reports, and my Africa boots. When the time comes that we’ll need the boots, we’ll ask the mailing service to ship them to us wherever we may be at the time. 

We haven’t determined a “typical” style of houses in this area. Some are gated, such as in this photo but most are not.

Sending this box to the mailing service saves us around 3.6 kilos, 8 pounds, in excess baggage weight over these upcoming many flights. Sure, there will be an expense to ship this box but with five upcoming flights between now and January, we’d have paid over and over again for the same items.

I must admit, I failed to scan every receipt we needed to save, as I’d originally planned. At the beginning of our travels, I was all over this. But, as time marched on I began making a pile of receipts to be scanned never getting around to the time-consuming task. 

View or Yorkey’s Knob Beach and area.

Our portable scanner, which works well, requires multiple receipts to be placed inside a clear double sheet of plastic scanning numerous receipts at once. This became time consuming and bothersome.  Failing to stay on top of this task occasionally nagged at me. Normally, I’m all over this stuff. And the receipts piled up.

Finally, I let go of it nagging me and decided in the realm of things, it’s no big deal. All of the receipts, not organized by year, would only be necessary if, God forbid, we were audited. 

If not, we have all the records of purchases on our spreadsheet with copies on multiple clouds and on our external hard drive. Over these past years, I became tired of hauling around three years of receipts in our luggage. It looks like I either have to get on the ball and start scanning new receipts or accumulating them once again. We shall see. I haven’t decided yet.

The view of Double Island and Scout Island is a pleasant beginning to any day in Trinity Beach. 

After accessing the food we have left for meals for the next week, one more trip to the grocery store is necessary. We wanted to make easy meals as we always do during the last week before departing for a new location. We always plan to prepare easy meals for which there will be leftovers for two nights for a total of three nights.

For this upcoming week, we decided on pizza with a green salad for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and tuna salad, mushroom, onion, bacon burger patties with a green salad on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We often make meals to last for two or three nights. It not only saves money but also saves considerable time in the kitchen. 

Often, when making meals for leftovers with all the chopping and dicing done in advance, we do the cooking separately each night to ensure it’s most fresh. In the case of pizza and the above tuna salad, we’ll make these all at once, cooking the mushrooms, onions, and bacon burgers and salads fresh each night.

Large house on the shore of the pond in Trinity Beach. 

Many vacation rentals have tiny kitchens and the less time spent in the kitchen the better as in this house which has minimal counter space in a relatively large kitchen. 

The same scenario will be the case in Fiji, a tiny galley kitchen. It was only in the fabulous house in Madeira, Portugal that we had a lot of counter space, making cooking enjoyable and easy.

The almost 90 days we’ve spent in Trinity Beach has been pleasant and in part task-related in getting our medical and dental exams and tests completed with good results. 

A car rental shop is located in the heart of Trinity Beach which may not be busy with the car rental shops at the nearby airport in Cairns, a 25-minute drive from this location.  Should a visitor rent a car from here, they’d have to arrange transportation back to the airport. However, if a tourist is staying in a nearby hotel on the beach, a few day rental may be perfect from this location.

We’ve found this amount of time (under 90 days) are perfect for familiarizing ourselves with an area, its people, and its culture. We’ve seen considerable sites and have literally visited every beach in the area. 

We’ve been to the closest bigger city, Cairns, many times, visiting many of its most popular tourist attractions.  We visited the popular Port Douglas and meandered many of its tourist attractions.

We’ve come to know the people at Woolie’s, the pharmacy, the farm stand, and the butcher on a first name basis. We’ve frequently seen interesting birds and learned to tune out the noisy curlews at night, now able to leave the narrow window with a screen open for fresh air while we sleep.

Red Cross Road leads to the hospital and medical facilities in Cairns with many restaurants nearby including this Flying Monkey located on Highway 1 which travels through the city.

Now, we’re on a fast path of becoming organized with careful packing to keep the baggage costs under control and packing a separate carry on bag for the overnight in Sydney to avoid opening the three larger checked bags.

It’s all good. We’re content, not anxious. That’s not to say that Tom won’t become “overly grumpy” on travel day as I continue in my annoying “overly bubbly” state of mind.

Happy Sunday or Monday to all of you!

                                                  Photo from one year ago today, August 31, 2014:

No photos were posted on this date one year ago as we made our way via a private car to the port in Harwich, England to the pier to board our ship to Boston, Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas for a 14-day cruise.  Instead, we posted the ship’s itinerary which is shown below. We’d intended to post later in the day but time got away from us not posting again until the next morning. For details from the day of departure, please click here.

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART
Sun Aug 31 London (Harwich), England 5:00 pm
Mon Sep 1 Paris (Le Havre), France 7:00 am 9:00 pm
Tue Sep 2 Portland, England 7:00 am 4:00 pm
Wed Sep 3 Cork (Cobh), Ireland 10:00 am 4:30 pm
Thu Sep 4 At Sea
Fri Sep 5 Klaksvik, Faroe Islands 9:00 am 6:00 pm
Sat Sep 6 At Sea
Sun Sep 7 Reykjavik, Iceland Noon
Mon Sep 8 Reykjavik, Iceland 5:00 pm
Tue Sep 9 At Sea
Wed Sep 10 At Sea
Thu Sep 11 At Sea
Fri Sep 12 At Sea
Sat Sep 13 At Sea
Sun Sep 14 Boston, MA 6:00 am

Two weeks and counting…Preparations have begun…Another unusual item in photos…Pandan aka Fragrant Screw Pine…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Pandan leaves from the Pandan Plant are used to make these beautiful fragrant bouquets. As quoted from the owner’s written material: “The leaves are used in Southeast Asian cooking as well in making the “flowers” which act a repellent to roaches. In addition, Pandan leaves are said to possess medicinal benefits containing tannin, glycosides, and alkaloids. The scents emitting from the flowers last a week and may be used as a freshener in cars, homes, or washrooms.”

Next week, we’ll return to the travel agency, Flight Centre, at the Smithfield Mall where we’ve booked several upcoming flights with rep Helen in and out of Australia and Fiji. At that point, we’ll prepay for our baggage for these flights with both Qantas Airlines and Fiji Airways.

In order to prepay our baggage fees with tougher restrictions with Fiji Airways than Qantas, it’s important we don’t overestimate the weight of our bags. With our handy travel scale that also doubles for weighing ourselves, Tom first weighs himself while I note the readout and then he weighs himself again, holding the bag.

These handmade Pandan Plant bouquets were being made as we watched the gifted crafts woman, proud of her handiwork. The smell was exquisite.

Generally, each of our checked bags weighs under 23 kilograms, 50.7 pounds, we weren’t charged an additional fee. However, we’ll have to pay for our third bag carrying our shoes, my boots, and a wide variety of supplies which often weighs another 23 kilos.  For that extra bag, we’re often charged an outrageous fee, varies by the airline.

An instruction sheet at the Pandan table.  Interesting.

In reviewing the items in that third bag, we don’t see how we can reduce its weight. If we’d be able to replace the items elsewhere, we would. But, many can’t be found on tropical islands or at remote locations. 

What a gorgeous orchid, one amongst many offered for sale at Rusty’s Markets.

This third bag contains various power cords, power adapters suitable for many countries, power strips, a portable scanner, emergency medical and dental supplies, a few month’s supply of toiletries, a few bottles of vitamins, probiotics, business cards, and shoes, all of our shoes, with five pairs for each of us. 

We stopped to sniff the wide array of organic soaps scented with essential oils.  The smells were intoxicating and I was tempted to buy a few.  Tom reminded me that we’ll easily spot items such as this in the open markets in Fiji.  I agreed.

Recently, I rummaged through that bag, removing every last unnecessary items, any we may be able to find at a local store. While here in abundant Australia we’ve been able to restock a few items we won’t be able to find until we return to Australia next year.

A diner made from an older caravan/travel trailer selling Thai foods. Tom scoured the menus wondering what-the-heck he’s going to eat when we get to Thailand in about a year.

Feeling concerned about the weight of my one large bag, especially when I’d purchased a few items both here and which arrived in a shipped box from the US a few weeks, it was time to pack and weigh my bag.

Hot food must be popular when these bunches of chilies (note spelling above) are offered for sale.

Last week, I took all my clothes out of the cupboard, neatly folding them, tossing no less than 3.6 kilos, 8 pounds of old and worn items none of which are in good enough condition to donate. This pile easily compensates for the new items. 

Yesterday, I did a “trial run” on the weight of my bag, packing every single item except what I was wearing, later removing what I’d need over the next few weeks. Tom weighed my bag and it came in at almost 20 kilos, 44 pounds. When the time comes, I won’t have any trouble rounding it out up to the allowance.

A refrigerator case of vegetarian-only baked goods and meal.

Tom has yet to do his bag, but he will before we head back to the travel agency at the end of next week to prepay the baggage fees.  Sure, we could do this ourselves online, but Helen, the rep, has a better wifi connection and can do it more quickly. We expect the fees to run at least AUD $800, USD $584, an amount we’re prepared to pay for the five upcoming flights.

Many readers still prefer to read a “real book.”

We always recall the excess weight baggage fees we paid when we had zillions of bags at the airports in Dubai, Venice and Istanbul. Having since greatly reduced the load, we’ve been able to get by with only paying for the third checked bag, usually running at about AUD $343, USD $250.

Screen printed tee shirts or night shirts in longer lengths.

As we often say, “It’s the nature of the beast,” a reality we faced long ago. From time to time, we hear stories of world travelers managing with carry-on bags only. We admire their ability to do so. But, most of those travelers are eventually return to a home base where they can repack in order to continue on.

After we’d toured the main area of the under-cover market, we wandered the perimeters finding more products for sale.

Our needs aren’t quite as sparse as those of most travelers. When checking out my relatively small amount of clothing, all that I own, I’m pleased for having reduced it to this level. Tom has an equal amount of clothing in his bag.

The shops continued on the street side of Rusty’s Markets.

We have less clothing and bags than the average traveler on a two week holiday/vacation from what we’ve seen of other travelers on cruises, at hotels and at airports. We willingly pay the extra fees understanding that it’s our choice to remain well equipped, spending little time shopping in each locale for items we’d have difficulty finding.

Gerbera Daisies, a favorite from the old life.  We don’t purchase flowers these days.

In the next few days we’ll head to the mall to grocery shop for the second to last time and to search for a cardboard box to use for the food items we’re accumulating to ship a few days before departing for Fiji. In many cases, as we travel the world we don’t need to ship food items with health food grocers readily available in most countries. 

Although we don’t eat fruit, we’d never seen this champagne honeydew melon in our travels.

In contacting Mario, the manager of the property we’re renting, he explained that there are no health food stores in Savusavu, Vanua Levu which we further confirmed researching online. We sent him a list of the items we use and he explained what is available and what is not. 

Mario explained that organic unrefined coconut oil is available at every shop, but ground flax meal is not. We’ll be lucky to be able to replace a bottle of vitamin C while on this remote island.

We could smell the sweet scent of these tangelos as we walked by this display.

My health club membership expired yesterday making no sense to sign up for another month. I’ll do some resistance exercises at home in the interim also planning a few walks in local parks and reserves. Walking down and back up the long and steep driveway to the trash bins is a high intensity interval training (HIIT) exercise in itself which we do every few days.

There are tons of bananas and other fruit available at Rusty’s Markets in Cairns.

Today, we’re sharing another batch of some of the remaining photos from Rusty’s Markets. We’re still reeling over the fulfilling experience while I continue to savor appetizer plates of the products we purchased from Fetish for Food. Tom? Not so much with his picky taste buds.

We plan to do a little more exploring this week as we wind down our time in Trinity Beach, sharing more photos over the next few weeks. As always, on the day of our departure on September 7th, we’ll be posting the total expenses for our three-month stay in the Cairns area.

                                             Photo from one year ago today, August 24, 2014:

Our last shot of Oxford, England as we prepared to leave the area. For more Oxford photos, please click here.

One more day until departure!…Saying goodbye to friends and wildlife…Last Kauai photos…Links to other Hawaiian Island photos and total expenses….

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
We seldom are able to get a photo of us together without imposing it on others. On occasion, when appropriate we’ll offer to take a photo of a couple or a family hoping they’ll also take ours.

Yesterday, at noon we put on our swimsuits and headed to the beach at Hanalei Bay to sit in our Costco chairs, one last time, gaze at the sea and walk on the pier. The sun was shining when we arrived and, not surprisingly, gone by the time we left. We took some photos and languished in the beauty surrounding us. We’ll share those photos tomorrow.

This green anole has begun shedding its skin. We were excited to see this at the overlook across the street.

The beach was quiet, perhaps due to the fact that permanent residents may have gone to the mainland or other islands for the upcoming Memorial weekend. Other than a few tour vans that arrived loaded with tourists, it was peaceful and quiet except for our own endless chatter on plans for the future. It was perfect!

This partnership that we’ve watched daily between Birdie and Ms. Birdie reminds us of the partnership we share, always looking out for one another. This is a favorite photo.

In a prior post, we’d mentioned that we’d share some favorite photos from the three other Hawaiian islands we’ve visited over these many months. For expediency, instead, we’ve listed the links to the final posts that include some of our favorite photos from each island. Plus, these links include the final expenses for each location. Please click here to view:

Waikiki/Honolulu: https://www.worldwidewaftage.com/2014/10/hurricane-ana-on-its-way-to-hawaiian.html
Maui:  https://www.worldwidewaftage.com/2014/12/aloha-mauimaui-expense-totalssix-weeks.html
Big Island: https://www.worldwidewaftage.com/2015/01/final-expenses-from-big-island.html

Tomorrow’s post will include the total expenses and final photos of our time in Kauai. Please check back.

Another exquisite view from the hilltop at Princeville Ranch.

Communicating with the many friends we made over the past several months while living in Kauai continues up over these past few days via email and in person. This afternoon, we’ll visit Richard and Elaine at their home to say goodbye and give them our two Costco lawn chairs that we certainly can’t take with us. Who better than Richard to inherit these chairs who will undoubtedly use them at upcoming Full Moon Parties?

An ocean view from the highest point at the Princeville Ranch when we toured the property with Curlie, the owner.

This evening, we’re meeting Alice and Travis for dinner at Hideaways across the road, giving us the opportunity to say goodbye to them in person. We’d planned to eat leftovers, but when Alice asked if we’d like to meet for dinner via Facebook messenger, we were thrilled to be able to see them one more time.

We’ve gotten a kick out of all the feral chickens, chicks and roosters found everywhere in Kauai.

Yesterday, our new next-door neighbors followed us to the neighborhood so we could show them the albatross families and take a few final photos. To our delight, we ended up taking a hysterical video that we’ll be posting tomorrow on our final Kauai post, along with an expense breakdown. If you’d like a good chuckle, make sure you watch that short video in its entirety.

There are an estimated 1100 Hawaiian Monk Seals left in the world. Having the opportunity to see this one was pure “safari luck.”

I’m mostly packed. Tom will pack later today. Now, we’re doing our final loads of laundry. Today, Tom decided we should wash all of his shirts so they’ll be hanging all over the condo to get the wrinkles out before he packs.

At times, the wildlife staff will fence off the Hawaiian Monk Seals to avoid curiosity seekers from getting too close. The morning Julie and I spotted this one, she/he was comfortably at peace, longing on the beach without a fence enclosing her/him.

Usually, each day we wash one load of clothing and towels. Once we board that ship, we’ll have to accumulate dirty clothes until the ship offers a deal on laundry, usually $30 for one grocery sized bag. This bag usually arrives after the first week. 

Another breathtaking sunset in Kauai.

It’ll be tricky waiting until that paper bag arrives when we have few clothes. In the interim, we’ll be washing underwear and swimsuits in the bathroom sink. We could have them done piece by piece, but at the ship’s cost of $5 for a single tee shirt, it makes no sense. Wearing most items more than once or twice will be necessary.  Then again, this is not unfamiliar to us.

View over Hanalei Bay.

Fortunately, our clothes never smell of body odor even if we wear the same item twice. Neither of us sweats that much and freshly showered a few times a day, in the morning and after the pool, our clothes stay fresh for a few days. 

Hanalei Wildlife Refuse.

The bigger problem is spilling food on our clothes, particularly Tom, who really doesn’t appear to be a messy diner. But, invariably he has coffee, iced tea, or food spots on the front of his shirts. I’m not exempt from this issue either.

This Jackfruit is known for its medicinal value. 

Packing and flying have a few nuances we have to consider, especially the no more than 3-ounce liquid rules.  Although the flight is less than 30 minutes to Oahu, all the rules still apply. Thus, we’ll pack our toiletries we’ll need overnight at the hotel and pack larger liquid containers in the suitcases which we don’t plan to open until we get to the ship.

I spotted this gorgeous rhododendron on the tour of the Princeville Botanical Garden.

Yesterday, I threw out my worn purse. It had heavy metal buckles. The only purses I have left are two tiny evening bags, one black, one beige, that I use on occasion when we go to dinner which I am planning to give away today. Otherwise, Tom carries my few items in his pockets. Why women’s clothing doesn’t have ample pockets baffles me.

This bottlebrush type of flower was a mystery to the tour guide and the owner of the Princeville Botanical Garden.

Instead of a purse in which to carry my small black cosmetic bags, a brush, and comb, my wallet and camera,  going forward I’ll be using the big yellow insulated Costco bag as a carry on which has multiple uses as a grocery bag or beach bag.

Another view of the Hanalei Wildlife Refuge. 

I can fit my purse stuff and the pill bag inside the Costco bag so it will appear that I have only one carry-on bag instead of two. Tom will carry one computer bag, a duffel bag, and the rolling cart. With this average of two items each, we’re good on all flights going forward. Minimize. It’s a way of life for us.

Could these orchids be more beautiful?

That’s it for today folks! We’ll be back tomorrow morning shortly before we depart for the airport. On Sunday, we’ll be posting in the morning from Honolulu as we wait for the appropriate time to grab a taxi and head to the pier. Yeah!

Happy Friday! Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend!

                                             Photo from one year ago today, May 22, 2014:

Zooming in to quite a distance from our veranda in Madeira, we could see this man on his roof near the clothesline. Dryers are unheard of in many other countries. Once again we were hanging our clothes outdoors.  For details, please click here.